What we learned as Fox shines in Kings’ comeback win over 76ers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
BOX SCORE
SACRAMENTO – The Kings began 2025 on an encouraging note, rallying in the final minutes to stun the Philadelphia 76ers 113-107 in front of a raucous crowd at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday.
Malik Monk made four free throws over the final 33 seconds to give Sacramento its second win since firing coach Mike Brown last week.
De’Aaron Fox led the charge with 35 points. Domantas Sabonis had 17 points, 21 rebounds and seven assists. Malik Monk added 20 points while DeMar Derozan scored 16 and got to light the beam after the game ended.
The Kings began the night looking a lot like the team that waltzed through the final few months of 2024 and fell behind by 14 before their late comeback.
The 76ers led 107-102 with 2:34 minutes remaining but couldn’t stop the Kings after that. Sacramento scored the final 11 points of the game, with Monk coming through in the clutch while DeRozan added a pair of key free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining.
The Kings improved to 2-1 under interim coach Doug Christie after ending the 76ers’ four-game winning streak.
Here are the takeaways from Wednesday’s game:
Domas The Double-Double Guy
In spite of often being played out of position, Sabonis has been monster of a scorer throughout his career while going against bigger, stronger defenders.
The 76ers were without Joel Embiid so that made things a little easier, although Domas still had to deal with 6-foot-11 Andre Drummond on the inside. That didn’t seem to bother him one bit, as the largest bulk of his scoring came down low.
That’s 29 double-doubles in 34 games during the 2024 NBA season for the league’s reigning triple-double champ.
Lyles Styles Off The Bench
Over the course of the season Lyles has evolved into a very solid role player who continues to contribute solid minutes off the bench.
Though he doesn’t get the attention that perimeter shooters like Kevin Huerter and Doug McDermott, Lyles has provided some needed consistency from distance and did that again against the Sixers. The veteran power forward did all of his scoring from behind the arc.
On the down side, Lyles got slapped with a technical foul for arguing with officials at the end of the third quarter. A minor blemish on an otherwise solid night.
Keon For Keegan
With Keegan Murray unavailable while nursing a sore ankle, Christie turned to Keon Ellis for help. The 24-year-old forward played with his normal allotment of energy and passion but didn’t have the type of impact on defense that has had and the type that Murrary has been bringing almost every game.
Ellis was minimally involved on the offensive end – he attempted just two shots in the first half but did make a clutch 3-pointer in the final 2 minutes of the game. Ellis spent a part of his night sharing defensive duties trying to contain Paul George, who scored more points in the first half (20) than he had in any of his previous six games total.
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